"Taking New Orleans and the legacy of Katrina as its center, this book bridges several disciplines: archaeology, cultural heritage and tourism, anthropology, and social theory are all involved to develop Dawdy's construction of "patina." There is much here on the urban archaeology of New Orleans and on local understandings of the material residue of the city's past, but the real focus is social theory and, specifically, how to understand the power of objects in peoples' lives. Even while taking theory as a focus, the writing is clear, and the extensive examples Dawdy draws from both local archaeology and interviews to help anchor the argument in the material world. It will appeal to archaeologists and anthropologists at the graduate and professional levels, and would be suitable for undergraduates with a bit of grounding in those fields."